November 14, 2017 - RegMedNet has today announced the winner of the first Award for Cultivating Excellence, sponsored by Biological Industries (Israel). Cells for Sight, University College London (UCL, UK), led by Professor Julie T Daniels, impressed a panel of international judges with its support of career development and continued education of the members of the lab.

The lab of Richard Oreffo, the Bone and Joint Research Group, University of Southampton (UK), was the runner-up, with a judge's special mention going to the lab of Ismail H. Dilogo, Universitas Indonesia. Completing the five-lab shortlist are the lab of Jeremy J. Mao, Columbia University (NY, USA) and Ngan Huang's lab at Stanford University (CA, USA).

The Award for Cultivating Excellence was established in 2017 in the belief that that the most valuable players in regenerative medicine aren't always those seen in the news. As well as ground-breaking research and award-winning facilities, RegMedNet wanted to recognize achievement in other areas such as career development and scientific outreach.

"What impressed me most about the entry from UCL was the level of enthusiasm in their description of what they did. It felt like this was something they did not because they had to but because they really wanted to and because they felt it was an important, even essential, part of their work," explained judge Kevin McCormack, Sr. Director Public Communications & Patient Advocate Outreach, California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CA, USA), also commenting on the high standard and global nature of the nominations received.

Cells for Sight was established with the aim of researching, developing and delivering safe and effective therapies for the prevention and treatment of blinding eye disorders. The program is a collaboration between the research group of Professor Daniels at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and clinicians at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK).

To highlight the achievements of Cells for Sight, they will be the subject of a one month-long special feature on RegMedNet, featuring interviews with lab members and selected published research. They will also receive one year-long subscription to a Future Science Group title of their choice, and 50% off open access fees for up to five articles published in Regenerative Medicine.

As part of the prize, Professor Daniels will also be hosting a webinar on 29th November 2017 at 3pm (GMT), entitled "Challenges, perspectives and road to progress for early career researchers in regenerative medicine". Register now for this illuminating event: http://bit.ly/2i0uhOW

"Ismail Dilogo's lab deserved a special merit for their very worthy and successful work under very difficult conditions, which was difficult to compare with labs in well-funded countries," mentioned judge Glyn Stacey, Executive Director, International Stem Cell Banking Initiative. "They were highly commended for their efforts in training and public outreach."

Completing the panel of international judges were Maneesha Inamdar, Professor and Dean, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (India) and Alain Vertes, Managing Director, NxR Biotechnologies (Switzerland). Alain and Glyn are also on the editorial board of RegMedNet's sister journal, Regenerative Medicine.

"The depth and breadth of the nominations in the first year of this award was staggering", commented RegMedNet Publisher, Freya Leask. "It was inspiring to read about the great work taking place around the world."
Applications for next year's award will open in spring 2018. Sign up to RegMedNet today so you don't miss this important date.

Founded in 2001, Future Science Group (FSG) is a progressive publisher focused on breakthrough medical, biotechnological, and scientific research. FSG's portfolio includes two imprints, Future Science and Future Medicine. Both publish eBooks and journals. In addition to this core publishing business FSG develops specialist eCommunities. Key titles and sites include Bioanalysis Zone, Epigenomics, Nanomedicine and the award-winning Regenerative Medicine. The aim of FSG is to service the advancement of clinical practice and drug research by enhancing the efficiency of communications among clinicians, researchers and decision-makers, and by providing innovative solutions to their information needs. This is achieved through a customer-centric approach, use of new technologies, products that deliver value-for-money and uncompromisingly high standards. http://www.futuresciencegroup.com

About RegMedNet

RegMedNet is a networking site, sister to the award-winning journal Regenerative Medicine. It that unites all members of the diverse regenerative medicine community, enabling them to share the latest news, inspiration and insights, and connect and collaborate in order to help this exciting field move forward at an even faster rate. At RegMedNet we truly believe that regenerative medicine is going to revolutionize modern healthcare.

About Biological Industries (BI)

Biological Industries is one of the world's leading and trusted suppliers to the life sciences industry, with over 35 years' experience in cell culture media development and GMP manufacturing. BI's products range from classical cell culture media to supplements and reagents for stem cell research and potential cell therapy applications, to serum-free media and many other products for animal cell culture and molecular biology. BI is committed to a Culture of Excellence through advanced manufacturing and quality-control systems, regulatory expertise, in-depth market knowledge, and extensive technical customer-support, training, and R&D capabilities.

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